image: Yoon Kang, M.D., inaugural vice dean for education at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Credit: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
May 7, 2024—(BRONX, NY)—Albert Einstein College of Medicine has appointed nationally recognized education leader Yoon Kang, M.D., as its inaugural vice dean for education, following a national search. Dr. Kang is currently the senior associate dean for education at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she has overseen all undergraduate medical education programs and offices, the office of continuing medical education, and recently the physician assistant program. Dr. Kang, who will also serve as the Ruth L. Gottesman Chair in Education, will assume her new role at Einstein on July 22.
“We are extremely pleased that Dr. Kang will be joining the Einstein community,” said Yaron Tomer, M.D., The Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein and chief academic officer at Montefiore Einstein. “Her proven experience as a celebrated educator, innovative administrator, and effective leader make her the ideal person to assume the leadership of our education programs and help shape the vision for Einstein in the coming years.”
In her new position at Einstein, Dr. Kang will oversee all education programs and associated offices, including the office of medical education, the office of admissions, the office of student affairs, the graduate programs in biomedical sciences, and the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). She will work closely with the College of Medicine’s institutional and education leaders to implement the strategic plan for education currently in development.
“Einstein’s longstanding reputation for training knowledgeable and compassionate physicians and scientists reflects a clear commitment to its education mission,” said Dr. Kang. “I’m delighted to join the Einstein community and look forward to partnering with faculty, students, postdocs, and staff to continue to enhance these exceptional programs and support the Einstein pipeline of future-ready leaders and innovators.”
As a leader, Dr. Kang emphasizes a data-driven approach to strategic planning. At Weill Cornell, she launched a quality improvement initiative and office and strengthened outcomes databases in medical education. She advanced partnerships and improved infrastructure in order to increase operational efficiency across offices, address accreditation needs, and allow for targeted institutional growth in the education mission. Her major areas of focus have been structuring opportunities for scholarship and innovation for students and faculty, diversifying student curricular offerings, and enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a particular interest in student financial well-being.
As an educator, Dr. Kang has taught thousands of students and received numerous teaching awards from the student body. She has also mentored and advised nearly one hundred medical students, graduate students, trainees, staff, and faculty. She was selected as a class of 2020 fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for women leaders, has served on National Board of Medical Examiners committees, and chaired the technology task force for the AAMC’s clinical skills assessment initiative.
Dr. Kang joined Weill Cornell Medicine in 2004 and became the founding director of its clinical skills center, launching the medical school's simulation education program for both medical and physician assistant students. In 2015 she was named the inaugural assistant dean for clinical curriculum and served in advancing central leadership roles before being named the senior associate dean of education in 2019.
Dr. Kang holds a B.S. in economics, with a concentration in finance, from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency and chief residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
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About Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is one of the nation’s premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2023-24 academic year, Einstein is home to 737 M.D. students, 209 Ph.D. students, 124 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and approximately 239 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 2,000 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2023, Einstein received more than $192 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in cancer, aging, intellectual development disorders, diabetes, clinical and translational research, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. For more information, please visit einsteinmed.edu, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and view us on YouTube